Predistribution versus Redistribution: Evidence from France and the United States
构建了法国1900-2018年的税后收入序列并与美国对比，发现两国税后不平等差异主要源于税前不平等，而非再分配政策。
We construct series of posttax income for France over the 1900–2018 period and compare them with US series. We quantify the extent of redistribution—the reduction from pretax to posttax inequality—and estimate the contribution of redistribution in explaining differences in posttax inequality. We find that differences in pretax inequality drive most of the differences in posttax inequality between France and the United States, and that changes over time in both countries are mostly due to changes in pretax inequality. We highlight that the concept of redistribution can be empirically misleading for judging how policies reduce inequalities.